The national parks preceded the National Park Service, but the first great natural park was a state park. Californiaâs Yosemite State Park was established in 1864, by a federal cession approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and on October 21, 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes toured Californiaâs Yosemite in an open carriage.
In fact, humans have been capturing the energy of moving water for thousands of years. Today, harnessing the power of moving water to generate electricity, known as hydroelectric power, is the largest source of emissions-free, renewable electricity in the United States and worldwide.
The use of water and the use of energy are intricately intertwined. The extraction, treatment, distribution, and use of water followed by the collection and treatment of wastewater require a lot of energy; likewise, the production of energyâparticularly hydroelectric and thermometric power generationâ requires a lot of water. Saving Energy Saves Water. Water is used to turn turbines for hydropower, to produce steam for thermoelectric power, and to cool equipment by absorbing the waste ...